Babysitting With a Difference
by JassyIsSherlocked
Summary: When John's sister calls him and admits that she needs help, himself and his wife are torn away from 'everyday life' with their baby and of course, Sherlock. Well, that's when John phones Abigail, a babysitter with a cat and nothing better to do with her summer than to look after an adult man and his best friend's child. It's bound to end in disaster.
1. Chapter 1

_"You want what?" I almost shouted into the phone in a state of absolute shock. "Sorry."_

_"Well my wife and I have to go away for a bit over a week to see my sister and we need a babysitter-"_

_"I got that part and I'm fine with it, it's just the last part I don't understand."_

_"Oh, we also need you to look after our friend, Sherlock." I frowned, leaning against my marble kitchen counter that had only been fitted about a month ago. My cat, Hilda, liked sitting on it when I was on the phone because I couldn't do anything about it and might not even notice if I was talking to someone else other than myself._

_"But... okay, how old is this Sherlock?"_

_"Thirty-four." I groaned, rolling my head back and running a hand through my hair that really I did need to wash._

_"I swear if this is a prank call-"_

_"It isn't, he can't look after himself-"_

_"Oh?"_

_"You see, he wants to look after our seven month old daughter, he thinks he'll be okay alone but my wife and I, we know that he wouldn't and everyone else that we know of has turned us down, please..."_

_"He's older than me, I'm hardly going to have any control over him-"_

_"Why? How old are you?"_

_"Twenty four."_

_"God," he paused for effects, sighed, and continued speaking. "We'll pay you double." as if it were some kind of favour. _

_"Well I should hope so seeing as you want me to babysit two people. Triple?"_

_Silence, nothing could be heard other than my cat rolling around on the counter and purring. "Fine." _

_"Thank you!" I grinned happily. "When should I start?" _

_"Tomorrow at eleven o'clock, is that alright?" he asked. I chewed on my bottom lip as I stroked Hilda's stomach, she purred furiously. _

_"Should be, yep. What's her name?"_

* * *

So that was how it happened.

That was how I, Abigail Benson, ended up babysitting not only a baby, but a thirty-four year old man-child as well.

I dragged my suitcase out of the taxi and paid the driver, thanking him and walking towards the house that the father, Doctor John Watson, had told me about.

It was quite big, bigger than my own but then again I lived in a flat, so I couldn't really compare them.

The front door was open and a man was just going out with some bags when I walked up the path, meeting him halfway.

"Hi, I'm Abigail, I'm here to babysit." I said, smiling at him. He smiled back at me.

"John," he held his hand out, I shook it. "My wife's inside, go straight in." I nodded my head happily and walked it, tapping on the door on my way in.

The house looked normal, white wallpaper, blue rugs, mirrors, cabinets, ornaments, but it had a homely feeling about it.

"Oh, hi, are you Abigail?" a woman asked, popping out of what looked like the kitchen with a baby dressed in a pink summer dress on her hip.

"Yeah," I smiled at her. "Mary, right? And this is Elena?" Mary nodded her head, smiling slightly. She looked stressed though.

"Um, come in, I'll show you where everything is." she said eventually. We spent about ten minutes walking around the house, she showed me where the guest bedroom was first and I left my bag in there, then the bathrooms which there were two of, Elena's room which was conveniently squished between the guest bedroom and the main bedroom, then she took me on a tour of the living room, kitchen and dining room.

The next ten minutes after that were spent talking about Elena's bed times and favourite foods, things like that.

"And John and my numbers are on the fridge so if you need any help at all or if... something goes wrong then don't hesitate calling us. Sherlock really is a handful sometimes-" I frowned slightly. "Oh my god did John not tell you about Sherlock?"

"No, he did, I'm just a bit confused, that's all." I smiled at her, she nodded, running her hands through her short blonde hair.

I tapped my finger nails on my coffee mug which was half empty and waited for her to say something else.

"He should be here soon." and at that moment the doorbell went as if the sentence she said was actually a signal that he should come in. He stepped through the door and we locked eyes, he scowled as he walked through to the kitchen.

"Mary, who's this."

"Sherlock, this is Abigail. Abigail, this is Sherlock. She's going to help you look after Elena."


	2. Chapter 2

"But Mary! I could manage her on my own-" Sherlock groaned, throwing an offended look in my direction that made me uncomfortable.

"Sherlock..." Mary rested her hand in between Sherlock's well pronounced shoulder blades that seemed to jut out beautifully when he was bent over on a chair, his elbows resting on his knee caps.

Not that I thought he was particularly 'beautiful' it was just really the only way to describe him without using offensive words like rude or lanky.

"Do you really think, in the nicest way possible, do you really think that John and I would leave you alone with our baby for more than a week?" Mary looked sadly at Sherlock and smiled a bit. "We really are sorry, Sherlock." she removed her hand and set a mug of dark coffee in front of him.

"Um, if I'm getting in the way of-"

"No, don't leave, please, not because of Sherlock." Mary said, her eyes widened slightly, as if she was on the verge of begging me, because if I left, the world would clearly fall apart underneath Sherlock's feet.

"I'm right here you know, Mary." Sherlock sipped his coffee slowly with a growing scowl on his face that reminded me of a teenage boy who'd just found out that he had no choice but to stay with a babysitter.

I finished my drink and looked between Mary, Sherlock and Elena. It couldn't be that bad... could it? He seemed _alright, _not the sort of guy I'd start liking which was good. Sure, he was slightly horrible and annoying but I was getting paid triple...

My fingers slowly started playing with the skirt of my dress as I looked at Sherlock, trying to figure him out a bit. He stared back at me, his eyebrows furrowed together.

"You were pregnant, weren't you?" I stared at him, my eyes wide, flickering to any other place in the room that I could stare at, I settled with the floor that seemed five hundred times more interesting now that someone was asking about my personal life. The way the black squares all joined up with the white ones making your eyes go funny if you looked at it for too long. It was kind of hideous.

"Sherlock!" Mary frowned at him.

"Well it makes sense. She's hardly paying any attention to Elena which suggests that children are probably not her main priority, unlike other _babysitters_," he said the word in such a way that made me feel even less like conversation. "Miscarriage, I suppose. Since then you've gotten a divorce, seeing as your ring finger has a tan line on it," I moved my hand from my coffee cup to my lap. "And you took up babysitting because not only did you need the money but you feel guilty?"

"I wasn't married, I was engaged." I swallowed, trying to make the lump in my throat disappear.

"I was engaged too once, for about two minutes."

"I'm not surprised she called it off." I raised my left eyebrow and stared at him.

"Mary we have to go now." John called into the house. Mary coughed quietly, as if she was trying to clear the air of the awkward atmosphere.

"Are you sure you'll be okay with him?" she asked me, I bit my lip.

"I'll be fine." I said, she picked Elena up and handed her to me, I smiled at the small child and carried her to the door where I said goodbye to Mary and John and they said goodbye to Elena. Then they were gone, leaving me almost alone with an adorable baby and a horrible man.

I shut the door when they had gone and I walked through the nice hall into the alright looking kitchen with the floor that made you feel like you were falling through time.

Sherlock was sitting at the table still, drinking his coffee.

"So," I said as I put Elena into her high chair. "We're going to have to work together." I went to the fridge and took some carrots out of the vegetable drawer which took about half a second to find. I looked at Sherlock who looked at me.

"I don't cooperate." was all he said.

"Well you're going to have to. Do you ever eat?"

"Only when I need to."

"Thought so. Do you need to?"

"Only if you're not cooking."

"Well tough luck, I am," I took a carrot out of the bag and showed it to Elena. "Do you like carrots, Elena?" she giggled loudly. I smiled at her and turned back to the counter where I tried to find a chopping board and knife. Eventually I found then, without the assistance of Sherlock who just sat there watching me as I peeled the carrot and chopped it into pieces then threw them into a sauce pan with some boiling water.

I turned around and looked at him.

"You didn't think I was going to give it to her raw, did you?"

"Of course not." he replied bitterly. He took his phone out of his pocket and started typing something. I laughed and turned back around to put the carrots in the fridge, then I looked in the cupboards and eventually found a packet of Walkers Ready Salted crisps, I took two packets out and shut the cupboard again, then I put them both on the table.

When the carrot had finished cooking, I drained it and put it into a bowl where I mashed it and took a rubber baby spoon out of the cutlery drawer. Then I sat down at the table and fed Elena.

"Here comes the aeroplane! Nuuuurrrrrrr!" I laughed, she opened her tiny mouth and ate the carrot.

"She's only seven months old, she's not going to understand that."

"It's a habit. Eat your crisps and shut up before I feed you too." I said to him before giving Elena more food. The thing was, any adorableness that Elena possessed had been chased away by Sherlock being stubborn.

I turned around and opened Sherlock's bag of crisps and shoved three or four into his mouth. He glared at me and I smiled innocently.

"Oh I'm _so _sorry, I forgot the aeroplane. Here it comes, nuuuuurrrrr!"

"Why am I even here."

"I have no idea, but I'm getting paid triple to look after you, so I'm fine with the arrangement to be honest."

Thank you to Mel, belladu57, Not-Knowing-Is-Everything and LifeisSupernatural500 for the reviews, I really appreciate it. Also everyone who follwed and favourited this.

Reviews are greatly appreciated because they make me feel special, like some kind of magical unicorn possum thing. :D


	3. Chapter 3

The day had gone quickly. After lunch I decided to sit Elena in my bedroom so I could watch her while I unpacked my things and put them away. Originally I had though it would be an easy task, however Elena liked moving quite a bit.

She would roll around on my bed whenever I turned my back, then stare innocently up at me as I turned back around to check on her, but eventually I managed to put all of my clothes in the wardrobe and chest of drawers without her falling onto the floor and cracking her tiny little head open, which was good I suppose.

By the time we were done I needed to change Elena's nappy but I'll spare you the details of that. Then I went downstairs with her and rooted around for a tube of sunscreen which I found with difficulty, then I tried to smear Elena in the stuff which proved to be an equally impossible task, but it was done in the end and I grabbed a book for myself and toys for her and we sat out in the garden under the unreliable shade of a small apple tree, and suddenly, everything seemed good.

But have you ever hear the expression the calm before the storm? Well that's what that was.

* * *

I woke up at eight o'clock in the morning to my phone alarm clock beeping at me. my window was open a bit, just enough to let the air get through, but I still felt sweaty and hot.

My hair clung to my shoulders, it still needed washing badly, and I needed a shower, so I decided that I wouldn't put it off any longer. I grabbed some clothes at random from my wardrobe, then I bundled them into my arms and ran to the bathroom as quickly as I could so no one saw me, and by no one I mean Sherlock.

I turned and locked the door then rested against it like I had been running from some gun-wielding maniac who had been chasing me through the house and now, I was safe.

I spent no less than fifteen minutes in the hot shower, thoroughly scrubbing my body down and dragging shampoo that kept seeping into my eyes and making me temporarily blind through my hair, then I stumbled out feeling inexplicably tired and floppy due to the heat outside paired with the boiling water I had just rinsed myself in.

My body dried by itself mainly, but I still needed to smother myself in a towel that smelled like that weird kind of suffocating washing powder everybody uses. I frowned a bit before putting my clothes on.

I looked slightly odd seeing as I had just grabbed some underwear, shorts and a t-shirt at random before racing to the bathroom like I would die if I got caught.

Just on cue the minute I got dressed, Elena started crying. So I grabbed my pajamas, shoved the dirty towel in the laundry basket, dumped my things in the doorway of my room then went to see on her.

She gazed up at me when I went inside and her glassy eyes softened a bit, I picked her up and balanced her on my hip, then I started jigging about gently and she giggled.

"Come on, let's get you changed."

Nappies were the bane of my existence, they always got caught on my skin and I couldn't roll them up properly, never mind put them on. However, I tried my best because practice makes perfect apparently.

Once Elena was changed I tried to find some clothes for her. We both eventually settled for a pair of white shorts and a blue t-shirt with a pink cat on it. Well, I chose it and she just watched from her cot.

Then I carried her downstairs for breakfast and that was when the chaos started.

"Sherlock, are you down here?" I called and received a muttered reply. "Okay, have you eaten? Because I'm about to make something for myself and Elena."

"Coffee please. Black two sugars." he grunted from the living room, but at least he was a bit more polite this time.

So I made Sherlock's coffee and my tea and I opened a can of baby food for Elena. It looked disgusting and not much like porridge and apple, but she seemed to like it. Then I took Sherlock his coffee which he didn't thank me for and I sat back at the table with Elena.

Eventually I heard Sherlock moving.

"I'm going out!" he stated and left before I even had time to understand what he had said. I groaned, resting my head on the table and looking at Elena.

"Do you know why he's so rude?" I asked her. "Unbearable, rude, mean, disrespectful, did I mention rude?" but she just stared at me.

* * *

I didn't hear from Sherlock all day, and I felt a bit guilty for trying to work out where he had gone, and when I got to the suggestion of a drugs den I decided to stop myself.

_He's just a perfectly normal, if a bit horrible, man._ I tried to tell myself. _You can't control him, Abigail, he's older than you anyway. _

So I tried my best to forget him and spent most of the day watching the tv with Elena, at first I put of Cbeebies which she seemed quite interested in, until In The Night Garden was over at least, then she went on to dragging herself across the floor to play with some toys, so I looked for something else to watch and eventually settled on Adventure Time.

At twelve thirty I got off the sofa and gave Elena some lunch, myself a bag of crisps again, then we sat in the garden like the day before and at three o'clock I got a text from an unknown number.

'I need some help. - SH'


End file.
